Socket for fluorescent lamps



July 20, 1943. -v. R. DESPARD 2,324,683

" SOCKET FOR FLUORESCENT LAMPS Filed Nov. 20, 1940 i rstenieaquiyfzd,19431 1] Pass; Seymour,

r H 2,324,331: to

1 Victoilt; SyraouseQN. Y., assignor to 1 Inc., Syracuse, N. Y.,acorpomh 'pplientlon wiivjei serzmmo; s dnrwobaemm imm particularly tosockets for tubi iar lectri i mpsi which sockets are used in ith eachend arms lamp.

5 It isezeneral object o of the igitaucn toprovidea' novel and improvedlamp socket, to

More particularly it is an object otthetinven tion toprovide a. novel;and I'improved: combing-- pairs; one cooperating tionoil'gmp, socketsand ariamp retaining men herremovahiy engaging one socket and adapted tocooperate v with'portions of one. end ot the lamp toretain itj;inposition whilekthefotherend is removed from itssocket.

Another; object of the invention the provision lot a removable clip orguard m mber adapted to obstructthe entering slot, in a. socket,

adapted for tdoublerendedt double-pin conductor t ,iemps 201' thetubularttype. whereby the Pins 1 operating with that ,socket areprevented Jrom falling onteven thoughlthe other endot the lamp I t isremoved from its socket for certain purposes;

1 1 An import antfeature oifthe invention consists j in the arrangement01' a. removable member adaptedwto cooperatexwith m ls of 901110118 0 a,socketto form's closure or stop for the straight,

lire showing 6. different type bf lamphgali'finz clipinpcsitionyFigureTis e fragmentelrs rsectionon iine Y a} further embodiment;

e fiiither embodlment or the herrier.

i mums; electricvlomps'.particularlithosttht thej type. known as}fluorescent; ere co nrnonly i menufactured 'imdiamters for from one toone one-mu inches and in ienzthsfroni eighteen pin-enteringsIot' wherebythe pins: on oneend of a lampmay be prevented from moving radially :1

out fromtheir socket.

Other and further objects. anti of. the

inventionwili he more apparent to those i'skiiled "in the art upon a.consideration of the a'ccom panying; 1 drawing and followingspecification trherein ere-disclosed sev'eralexemplary embodiments oithe inyention' with the' understanding thetsuch changes, combinationsand modiflcationsiof thefsame mey bemede es fall within the scope of theappended claims vtithouhde-w partingiromthe spirit'o! the invention.- f

I si er-swing:

r Figure 1; is afside elevetion be tly' m veruc r sectionj of a. l amp;sockets, supporting "hose and starter; assembly showini one of thesockets? equipped with bne embodimentof the present m m: 1. e sm] socketorr'lgure 11showing thedevice of the some embodiment of their vention inposition mereom Fig ure 3 is a. vertical; section taken on line -5-QIHZU Z mora ne atiiorilzontal section taken; cnjiine orlifigure 2; tFigure5 is a perspective view ing clip of the first embodiment;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary viewsimil'ar to Figinner me view of the fighthind inchaftoffoiir feet or long r; ndireqmi-epmr theirfoperetionnnderno mal c; dition gtheyw piicetion of "to each end thereoifl f For t istdrtin'gpurposes two conductors must sad- Theitype or sockettuse #5 l tr? he sockets after whichthelbmp is with a; separeteeonthct spring whichisgiven Ithisposition. I r

fwfl'he operation of assembling a shorti lanipinto 1.1, itssocketsisrelatively simple, butinthejarger siies, particularly where ready accessto both socketsis not available, tiimculty isflslozneti nesexperienceqin hoiding both ends oi; the iampin i l position untirthesame is roteted tor locking. 1

ctiv'ey evibr ti e m t ment'es used inthe emb dinientotHwIeB; and iFigure 10 is a) View similaritoFiztreQ showing such? a c mma tion sjjwretain he; h e n rent instel iations to ji n ake' increesihx 11 0! jso-cnlied automatic sterteri devices f for 1 these.

' yla-mpswhich proviriefthepropercurrentfitlfiep ing theg n iaments atoppositeeiids ofthe same t i'oii alibi-jet intervel endthen thefilaments and usinil them pm 8: terminais ior i mus-mm s me: m m m so eior energizing the nuorescent jinner coetini on the iampsigTheseautorfleticfjstnrters arecon- \-'enient1y housed in a; smallcylindrical easing having pair or pins on one end spree toba 1ritroyziut:ei into a socketand secured therefineby own r @eh s endwcpnvenient to combine the starter socket with meson the lamp socketsand to permit the face otthe tarter to project out just beneath the lamptube; w

j "lti the present prectiee in elternntinir curj l'he starters aresubject to service difficulties which sometimes require their renewaland for this purpose one end of the lamp must be removed from its socketfor access to the starter to change the same.

Most fluorescent lamps are mounted with the sockets inverted so that thepin introducing slots are vertical and pointed downwardly. If the lampshould be rotated 90 to release the pins it would tend to fall out ofthe sockets by gravity. One end, that adjacent the starter only need bereleased, but the other end will also be released upon this rotation andit is the purpose of the present invention to provide means to hold thepins at the far end within the socket while yet permitting them to berotated without hindrance when desired. Such means may be permanentlybuilt into one socket, but since the sockets at the opposite ends areotherwise identical it is more convenient to make them from the samemold and. to subsequently applya device in accordance with the presentinvention to act as a pin retaining means. l i

For a more complete understanding of the present invention referenceshould be had, first to Figure 1 of the drawing wherein l illustratesthe central tubular glass portion of a fluorescent lamp equipped withend caps I I from which protrude the rod-like contact pins [2, two fromeach end, these four pinsall lying with their axes in the .same plane asclearly seen in thedrawing. Socket members I3 and M are'provided foreach end of the lamp and in the approved manner such sockets' are shownmounted protruding through a sheet metalbase or canopy l5 adapted to bemounted against a ceiling, wall, part of a fixture, or on other andperhaps ornamental surfaces, The base orcanopy [5 in most cases supportsa trough-like reflector partly surrounding the lamp, but this has beenomitted from the illustration for the sake of clearness.

Thetwosockets l3 and I4 for the opposite ends of the lamp are preferablyidentical in construction and each includes a main or body'portion 16substantially rectangular in horizontal section having a fiat inner faceI l, a parallel outer face l8, and a connecting edge l9, semi-circularat the bottom as shown at 20. The main portion of the socket projectsfrom a larger base 2| adapted to be housed within the canopy and havinga fiat front, or downwardly projecting face, 22 adaped to abut againstthe inner face of the bottom wall of this canopy. A suitable fasteningscrew, not shown, is received in the slot 24 in the base for securingthe socket to the canopy. An appropriate opening in the canopy justslightly larger in size than the cross-section of the 'main portion l6of the socket permits this part to be passed through the canopy as shownin Figure 1.

In order to receive and hold the two pins on the end ofthe lamp tube,each socket, of the type shown for example in Figur 2, is equipped withan annular recess 25 deeply cut into the main portion thereof fromtheinner face I]. The diameter and width of this recess are such thatitloosely receives for rotation therein the spaced pins l2 on the endofthe lamp. The central stud, of insulating material like the main portionof the socket, projects up through this annular recess and is dividedinto two laterally spaced parts 26 by a radial slot'2lvertically ar-'ranged as viewed in Figure 2. An extension 28.

of slot 2'! leads from the recess to the rounded lower edge 20 of thesocket to permit the introduction of the pins by moving the .lamp sothat these pins follow one another through this xtension 28 and the slot21 to come to a stop as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 by engagementof one of them with a wall of the annular recess. Thereafter a rotationof 90 will cause them to press apart the contact springs 30 and come toa stop in the bights 3| thereof where they are tightly held andelectrically contacted, being pressed against the central portions 26 bythe springs. Th construction of such a socket is more fully shown anddescribed in the patent to Marshaus 2.137,174, patented November 15,1938and the present invention contemplates improvements therein. Theinvention is likewise adaptable to sockets constructed for similar usesin which the central stud is unslotted, where it is entirely ab sent orwhere it has no specific pin guiding function.

It will be understood that the two socket M are identicaland that theirrecesses face each other as mounted on the canopy. A starter 35, forconvenience in putting the lamp in operation, is adapted to be partiallyhoused in the canopy and to project through the circular aperture 36therein. This starter is protected by'a cylindrical metal casing asshown, and mounted so that only a minor portion of-the same extendsbeyond the opening 36, permitting the lamp to be placed in positionwithout engaging the flat upper end 31 of the starter casing. Thestarter is received and held by'means of bayonet joints,

' not shown, in a recess in the relatively flat starter socket 38 whichis conveniently assembled by being attached with suitable screws andcontact devices,not shown, to the bottom 40 of one of the sockets, H),as clearly seen at the left of Figure l. -In order to remove the starterfor replacement, it is necessary to drop one end of the lamp to theposition illustrated in that figure, grasp the head of the starter bythe knurled portion and rotate the same for about 45 whereupon it may bewithdrawn and repla'cedby another.

, The operation of replacing the starter necessitate dropping at leastone end of the lamp to the position shown in Figure 1. Such lamps arerelatively fragile and in the longer sizes are somewhat difficult tohandle especially in crowded quarters or when standing on a ladder, soit is release the pins from their contacts andentirely from the socketat the opposite end where access must be had to the starter. I V Thesockets l3 and Mare identical in construction and are preferabl moldedfrom a suitableartificial resin or other lastic. .In accordance with thepresent invention it is not necessary that different types of sockets beprovided for the opposite lamp ends in order to achieve the benefits ofthe improvement. The same mold may be used forvmaking all sockets and.the slot '28 closed, for instance, bythe device 42 shown in Figure 5.This is a clip formed of a strip of any desired material, but best of'metal and bent to have a central or main portion 43 of a length justslightly greater than the distance between the front and back faces I!and I8 of thc Socket. A small locking tab 44 extends at face, a springclip covering said slot in said face and edge, and shoulderson-saidmember cooperating with' said clip to position the same againstlateral movement along the member.

4. In a socket for tubular electric 1amps, in combination, a member ofinsulating material having substantially parallel front and rear-facesanda connecting edge substantially normal theret one of said faceshaving a deep recess spaced from said edge, a slot extending throughsaid edge and intersecting-said recess and a spring clip snapped overportions of-and engaging'said faces and edge at the sides of the slotfor positioning the clip and 'to- 'closeoff said slot.

5. Ina socket for tubular electric lamps, in combination, a member ofinsulating material having substantially parallel front and rear facesand a connecting edge substantially normal thereto, one-of said faceshaving a deep recess spaced from said edge, a slot extending throughsaid edge and intersecting said recess and a spring clip snapped overportions of said, faces and edge to close off said last mentioned slot,said clip comprising a length of springy metal strip slightly wider thansaid slot and having an intermediate portionof a length substantiallyequal to the thickness of said-member and engaging s'aid edge, abackface engaging' portion extending at rightan'gles to said intermediateportion, and a front face engaging portion hav ing a length equal to thedistance from the edge to the recess, and a tab on the free endof saidlastmention'edportion engaging the outer wall of the recess to hold theclip in position. v

6. The combination with a socket for fluorescent lamps having a memberof insulating mate rial with substantially parallel front and rear facesand a connecting edge substantially normal thereto, with a deep recessin one face spaced from said edge and connected thereto bya slot, of aspring clip in snap engagement with said socket to close off the slot,said-clip comprising a length of springy metal strip having anintermediate portion closing the entrance to said slot and recessthrough said edge, and end portions in cooperative engagement with thesaid edge andjthe wall of'said recess to retain the strip in position,vI

' ,vrc'roa m naspaan.

